What resilient water infrastructure looks like in practice

The UK water sector can move faster by combining stronger evidence, earlier public engagement and lessons from major programmes around the world. Three key takeaways from IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2026 in Glasgow.  

Resilient water infrastructure depends on connecting evidence, technology, public trust and long-term delivery. For Graham Bateman, Technical Director, Water at GHD, the central message from IWA was that “resilience comes from making better decisions, earlier.” With the UK facing population growth, climate change, environmental pressures and affordability constraints, stronger evidence, transparency and integrated planning are essential if investment is to deliver long-term value. 

During the IWA session, the UK Business Forum panel asked the question: Want to Help Save the World? Start with Water, Jessica Kahl, Client Development Leader at GHD, argued that water sits at the centre of economic growth, AI, climate resilience and biodiversity. Rod Naylor, Global Leader, Future of Water at GHD, warned that demand is approaching what natural systems can provide. “Water bankruptcy is a real threat,” he said. “If we are to avoid it, the time for change is now.”

“Resilience is our capacity to respond to uncertainty,” says Kahl. Naylor argues that this uncertainty makes adaptive planning essential: programmes should meet short term needs without closing off future options. Investment choices must reflect how assets will be financed, operated and maintained, and how they may need to adapt as climate, demand and technology change.  

John Hensman, UK Market Leader – Water at GHD, argues that technology is only part of the challenge. Treatment, transfer, reuse and desalination technologies are already proven in other markets. Projects slow when teams ask whether a technology can work without fully addressing regulatory approvals, environmental requirements and public confidence.  

“We worry about the technology when actually getting the public on side is hard,” he says. Treating these wider issues as core design inputs can prevent late changes, delays and cost escalation. Public engagement must explain why infrastructure is needed, which options were considered and how benefits and impacts will be shared.

Digital modelling can bring technical, environmental and policy evidence together early in a programme. For the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, GHD developed a single framework integrating geospatial, land-use and environmental data with policy assumptions. Response times fell from days or weeks to hours, helping decision-makers test scenarios and trade-offs faster. 

Digital tools create value only when they are combined with environmental understanding and operational reality. Bateman says early planning allows teams to explore options before decisions become fixed, while better evidence clarifies risks and trade-offs. Kahl argues that innovation should follow the same approach: evaluate pilots, adopt successful methods and share lessons so they become part of business as usual.

Havant Thicket Reservoir demonstrates the persistence needed to deliver long-term infrastructure needs. The first major new UK reservoir in more than three decades, it draws on GHD’s civil, structural, geotechnical, mechanical and electrical expertise, alongside international reservoir and dam knowledge.

The project will strengthen water supplies across Hampshire and the South East while protecting rare chalk-stream habitats. Weekly prioritisation and close coordination between Portsmouth Water, GHD and other delivery partners maintain alignment as requirements evolve. For Bateman, bringing costs, delivery constraints, environmental impacts and stakeholder priorities together from the outset is what keeps technically credible solutions affordable and supported.

International experience shows what is possible. Naylor points to Australia’s routine use of desalination and advanced reuse following the Millennium Drought, and to indirect potable reuse in the southern and western United States. The underlying technologies can transfer, but delivery remains local: network connections, pumping energy, environmental effects and nearby stakeholders can shape cost and viability. Hensman’s advice is direct: “Look at where it’s been done before.” Learning from successful and unsuccessful schemes can help UK programmes avoid repeating mistakes.

The sector should therefore prioritise integrated and adaptive planning, better use of data and earlier collaboration. Systems thinking helps teams understand how supply options interact with networks, communities, economic change and the environment, while transparent decisions balance customer, environmental and operational needs. Making those decisions earlier gives programmes a better chance of delivering long-term value.